POOR JASON

POOR JASON

Poor Jason! All he did was to offer hospitality to Paul and Silas. But mayhem ensued. The sturdy citizens of Thessalonica were aggrieved, not to say inflamed, just as their counterparts in Philippi had been. They couldn’t find Paul and Silas so they did the next best thing and pounced upon Jason. They dragged him before the magistrates and declared he had been harbouring the trouble-makers who were retailing a new religion. They were quite clear about it. In their view Paul and Silas were men who had turned the world upside down. They were a threat to the established order. The upshot was that the Jews in Thessalonica smuggled the two offenders out of the city. Paul and Silas moved on to Beroea. There the Jews and Gentiles alike treated them with more courtesy.

In both cities vindictive opponents of the new faith rustled up a crowd and took their grievance to the city fathers. Luke tells us that in Philippi the Jews were blamed for stirring up trouble. In Thessalonica, Luke says, the Jews laid the blame on dissidents among their own community. In both cases a mob was called into being. It took to the streets and civil disorder was brewing up. We call to mind Jesus’ words (Matthew 10.36): ‘A man’s foes shall be they of his own household.’

At its beginning it is clear that the Christian Gospel was often seriously disruptive of social life and business interests. Christians were not readily tolerated. They had little more than nuisance-value. As things progressed, Christians faced persecution until Constantine made Christianity respectable. Perhaps we should remember this when we think of the problems Christians today face in many nations. There is an obvious move to put pressure on groups, to persuade them to dilute way-out ideas and to come to terms with the society in which they find themselves. As with liberation theology in South America, a push-back by Christians may prove to have painful consequences.

In our own country Christianity is tolerated. Indeed, there is an Established Church. But it is understood that the Church knows its place and must be careful not to offend. Could it be that we have to learn that discretion is the better part of valour?

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